Moszkowski -at Szczecin Philharmonic

[markniew]

Hi All,
Tomorrow on YT there will be a live broadcast of from the Philharmonic in Szczecin. The program includes three compositions by Moritz Moszkowski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx1iBcQJXiQ

Performers
West Side Sinfonietta
Marcin Danilewski - violin
Paweł Maślanka - violin
Hanna Hurkot - conductor

Program
Moritz Moszkowski - Prelude and Fugue op. 85 for String Orchestra
Moritz Moszkowski - Violin Concerto in C Major op. 30
Moritz Moszkowski - Spanish Dances op. 12

Excerpt from the note:
"We cordially invite you to a concert promoting the latest album of the West Side Sinfonietta Orchestra. The album with works by Moritz Moszkowski was premiered in July 2020. Although the concert plans have been disturbed by a pandemic, we come back with great compositions, repeating the question once asked by "The Musical Courier": "who is not impressed by the charm of these melodies?"

[Alan Howe]

What size is the orchestra, as a matter of interest?

[FBerwald]

Wonderful concert. The Orchestra was a medium salon size with orchestral piano in the violin concerto. Despite this the playing was not that bad. The 1st and 3rd movement could have been played a tad faster as, especially, the 1st relies on some propulsion else it kind of runs out of steam in the middle. And the middle movement at the high orchestral tutti highlighted, why pieces like this need a large orchestra. But all in all a very enjoyable concert. The Spanish dances were especially delightful. 

[Martin Eastick]

Having already heard the CD recording, I have to say that the underpowered orchestra just cannot do justice to Moszkowski in these pieces, perhaps with the exception of the Spanish Dances, which have had so many different arrangements over the years that a "lighter" orchestra seems in no way inappropriate - also considering that the originals were of course written for piano duet. Having the orchestral piano in VC is simply wrong and tries to perpetuate the myth that Moszkowski's more serious minded orchestral music is not to be taken too seriously, and therefore is fair game to be paraded as merely salon music - which it certainly is not!

[FBerwald]

You are right Martin but perhaps The Szczecin Philharmonic is a salon sized and had to make do with orchestral piano filling in or perhaps the "distancing" issues prohibit large orchestra in normal stage dimensions.. but; like you said, Moszkowski definitely needs to be taken more seriously and once again I'm amazed at the neglect of this concerto. 

[Alan Howe]

Well, the orchestra involved was actually the West Side Sinfonietta - hence my earlier question as to its size. An opportunity missed, it seems to me.

This is the recording which Martin referred to:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8803342--moritz-moszkowski-west-side-sinfonietta

[markniew]

In the accompanying note on YT it was said the following:
"West Side Sinfonietta is an ensemble founded on the initiative of musicians from the NFM (National Forum of Music) Wrocław Philharmonic and the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Szczecin. The instrumentalists of both  institutions from the western region of  Poland exchange various artistic experiences. The orchestra is not traditionally led by a conductor, but by violinists. This function is performed by the concertmasters Marcin Danilewski and Paweł Maślanka, who together with the excellent double bass player Jacek Sosna constitute the backbone of the ensemble".

When distributing information about the coming concert, I did not have any additional details about the size of the orchestra. I also did not know the CD in question. I myself was surprised that a pianist was also involved in the violin concerto and Spanish Dances. For me it is quite interesting, because for decades I have been collecting recordings of piano concertos and other works for piano and orchestra. Thus, two additional pieces joined the collection.

Anyhow the evening was quite pleasant.

[Alan Howe]

It was the CD that alerted us to the issue of the orchestra's size. I'm sure the evening was indeed a pleasant experience.